I am a compulsive traveler on a life-mission to visit every country on Earth. This blog is a journal of my experiences. I hope to share anecdotes, photos and useful information (like visa procedures!). If you want to contact me, please follow me on twitter: @insertindian.

Experience:No appointment needed. Turn up in the morning between 8 and 10.30 AM, go through a security queue, and wait for your ticket number to be called. The officers who collect the documents are not helpful and don’t answer any questions. They just say “submit everything you want to submit”.

They simply told us to come the next day between 1pm and 2.30 pm to collect our passports.

Now, the collection experience was weird to say the least. They made us queue outside the building by the roadside for 10 mins first. Then the guard led us into the consulate in a line (as if we were school children). After security we were given another ticket and then our number was called after about 30 mins wait.

It was OK for me, but another person had a bad experience in front of me. This lady had lost her ticket (which you are given when submitting the application). The guards refused her entry saying that “if you went to a baseball game without a ticket, would they let you in?” … my argument (which I voiced right there – to deaf ears!) “This is not a bloody baseball game”. The lady was basically denied her passport because she had lost this ticket. She was offered no alternative way to get her passports back. I can only hope she figured some way out. If you try calling the embassy for help, their automated voice system only says “we don’t handle visa related enquiries”!! Why bother with publishing a phone number at all! Crazy!

Key points to keep in mind:1. No appointment needed.2. Need 30 mins to submit application.3. Need 1 hour to collect passports4. Be prepared to stand in line (in the open-air) for 15-20 minutes at collection.5. Don’t loose your application ticket (issued when applying) else you will not get your passport back!